Car won't start

Asked by Stacy Nov 23, 2014 at 10:08 PM about the 2000 Pontiac Sunfire GT Coupe

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I just replaced alternator, after having battery fully charged and checked which was good, now car (2000 sunfire) will try to turn over but won't start? Please help.

7 Answers

10,985

You mean it doesn't quite turn over? If so, best way is to hook up a multimeter to the starter solenoid on the starter and have someone turn the ignition key. If you're not getting 12 volts to the starter you then work backwards checking any solenoids, neutral safety switch and ignition switch to see where you're losing voltage. If you are getting 12 volts to the starter and it's barely turning over, then it's the starter/solenoid setup

10,985

My gripe.... even with a faulty alternator, with a fully charged battery you should be able to start and run a car (but not for very long) if the alternator was the only problem. In that case, you just stick a multimeter on the posts of the battery and it would read between 14v - 14.5v. meaning it was charging. If the alternator was bad, the battery would start at around 12.5v and drain quickly, then engine crap out. Since you have a new alternator and the car still doesn't start, someone probably guessed wrong.

It did run after we replaced the alternator and died this afternoon. I am sorry, yes the alt did test faulty and the car started.

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